All Posts in Campaigns

We love the idea of autonomous trucks. And it looks like Volvo is set to dominate this innovative space. But it does raise an interesting question. Once drivers are no longer needed, where do those people find employment? On the docks loading the trucks...unlikely, since the next obvious innovation is autonomous loaders and in computer controlled warehouses. I for one welcome our self-driving overlords if only for the reason that there will be fewer accidents on major highways - and maybe, goods will be shipped in the midnight hours. But it should give everyone pause. Exactly how will a growing population find employment in a world run by machines?

I LOVE what Under Armour is doing these days. The work is crisp and insightful. What Nike used to be before they became a tired cliche. I especially like how the spot ends, "It's what you do in the dark that puts you in the light." As someone who has spent many many hours getting up at 445am to head to the gym, or the pool, or hit the road on my bike... I get it. I still quietly tell myself to, "just do it." But when I do, it's in the dark.

And, it's not just me... this campaign speaks to my 9-yr-old daughter who can't stop doing handstands, and cartwheels, and pushups with a vow to walk on her hands by the end of the summer. Under Armour just captured the attention of a young generation. And where did she see this ad? Not on TV. She saw it while watching clips on YouTube. As they do.

Here's an excellent use of social scraping with a positive purpose. We did something similar a while ago, but we scraped for mentions of #bacon and burger lingo (code was done by @oddlytimbot and @oddlystudios). Same approach, but obviously with a completely different objective. I wish we had taken that code and used it for something like this NoHomophobes.com.

And when I say "we" I mean those of us who cultivate an Internet culture that revels in the absurd and celebrates the weird. In the pre-Internet world that creative well was plumbed and topped-up by a yearly dose of bizarro TV spots that pushed benchmarks and re-inked creative boundaries. Timewarp to Super Bowl 50 where my OTA HD feed of US ads felt -for the most part- like a boring parade of mundane. What happened? When did everything become so safe?